LAST month, Calgary key grip Neil Christensen died on the set of the TV show Bugs and Blooms while handling a light fixture. Although the coroner’s findings remain inconclusive, there is some speculation that he was electrocuted. This incident prompted Ross McLean, GM of The Partners’ Film Company, to write this opinion piece on the state of crew safety in Canada.

Despite the fact that every day film production companies operate generators large enough to power a dozen homes and our lights can be up to 200 times the wattage of a household bulb, electrical accidents are rare. The company I have worked for for some 20 years averages 1,000 shoot days per year, typically with 30 crew, production, agency, and client people on hand. Six hundred thousand people – not to mention millions of public bystanders – have come in either direct contact or near proximity to film lighting systems without incident. Along with good fortune, there are several reasons why film technicians, who for the most part have no formal electrical training, have been able to work day after day without incident.

Firstly, in the Toronto market, most of the production equipment is supplied by three large rental houses that put out quality product and service their gear regularly. These houses will not risk their reputations sending out questionable gear. They have trained technicians to repair it, the depth of inventory to cover it off, and the funds to rebuild or replace it.

Secondly (although you wouldn’t think it to hear us talk about each other), for the most part, film production people tend to be of above average intellect – we improperly use the word stupid to refer to anyone who dares to have a differing creative opinion. We are all smart enough to know that electricity must be respected.

Thirdly, unlike real electricians who design and build electrical systems out of spools of wire, connectors, metal boxes and other bits of hardware, our components all come pre-built and ready to plug in. It’s like giant Lego sets, where every day we select from the same available pieces, creating new configurations that vary with the requirements of the project.

Finally, in the absence of formal training, an informal apprenticeship system has developed. No one calls himself or herself a gaffer and gets hired without the resume to back it up. In Toronto, commercial technicians are independent, affording department heads the freedom to recruit and train appropriate candidates. These newly entered apprentices, working as third electrics, must pay their dues before becoming a second, and then, after mastering the craft, a gaffer. Furthermore, the community is small enough that another gaffer would not likely pick up a trainee who is not working out.

So, with a relatively clean record regarding electrical safety, producers and suppliers should concentrate their attention on dealing with some of the hazards of the industry. The single piece of gear involved in more accidents and injuries than any other is the stepladder; manned camera cranes needlessly injure, maim, and kill workers, even though remote heads make them unnecessary; and impairment due to fatigue is the greatest of all threats to worker safety.

Yet, these issues don’t have the Ontario Film and Television Production Electrical Committee to champion the cause. This ad hoc committee, consisting mostly of entertainment industry suppliers, was formed at the request of the Electrical Safety Authority to advise on the creation of an electrical permit process and equipment standard, while taking into consideration the uniqueness of the entertainment industry. These were the correct people to invite to the table, seeing as they would be most affected by regulation. Their single task completed, most committee members returned to their priorities – their business.

Not so for the members of the education subcommittee of OFTPEC, which took it upon themselves to convince the ESA and Humber College that they are the voice of the entertainment industry with regards to the education and certification of electrical technicians. Despite the fact that none of these people employ or derive a living as electrical employees and that they do not have any background in education, the group lobbied the Ministries of Employment and Education to support its initiative.

Pandora’s box has now been opened and film electrical technicians are now going be required to be certified some time in the near future. It won’t be such a bad thing if technicians have some training in electrical safety. However, I believe our technicians should have training specific to the film industry, that at some point all electrical technicians on the floor should be certified, and that technicians should remain just that, leaving the wiring of transformers and 600V tie-ins to certified electricians. As for OFTPEC, word is they have turned their sights on ice cream trucks, which are not grounded you know.